Significant ABU
Friends

Patrik
Svensson’s office is just like any other big office. Except for the hundreds of
fishing reels scattered across shelves and desks and window sills. His office is
located on the top floor of the ABU Factory in Svängsta, Sweden. His Pure
Fishing business card reads “Global Director Conventional Reels.” That sounds
like an okay job. How did he get there?

“I started at the ABU Factory in 1984, when I was 18 years
old. My first job was in the Print Department, which attaches letters and
numbers and such to the reels. Then I moved to machining, then assembly, and
then quality control. In 1992, I moved to Product Development, and was appointed
head of that department in 2000. Four years ago, the Jarden Corporation
purchased Pure Fishing, which added development of Shakespeare and Pflueger
reels to my responsibilities. And since last year, I have also had Penn.”

Imagine my
surprise: I thought I was talking to a 100-percent ABU man. Welcome to the
modern world. Of course, Shakespeare, Pflueger, and (to a much lesser extent)
Penn used to be competitors of ABU. So I have to ask whether overall
responsibility for all these different brands doesn’t generate a certain degree
of schizophrenia?

“A little. But we focus on the big picture and the role that
different brands can play in different market segments. Penn makes saltwater
reels and Shakespeare mostly caters to the economy segment of the market. ABU
and Pflueger are more alike but there is a greater emphasis on low-profile reels
in the Pflueger lineup.”

Svensson
fishes out a Shakespeare E-Z Cast from the ocean of reels in his office; a
beginners’ reel with a simple but effective anti-backlash mechanism and a
sub-$40 price tag that combined to make it a success. Where do new ideas come
from?

“They say that a problem is a good start to a solution. It
could be the requirements implied by new rods, new lines, new fishing
techniques, or a any combination of these. To be successful, a new idea has to
be integrated into an overall package – the whole reel has to work, not just the
individual idea. And although you and I might love all sorts of complicated
gimmicks, when you are in the business of producing fishing reels, you have to
weigh costs of production against potential market demand.”

On the
table between us sits an Ambassadeur 2500C that weighs just 149 grams, a
supremely elegant version of my favourite reel. Unfortunately, it is likely to
remain the only example – a casualty of someone’s projected benefit-cost ratio.
Does Svensson ever think of agents, accountants, and marketing departments as
enemies rather than friends?

“No.”

He
does, however, admit that it’s sometimes hard to explain why an innovation
fails. In the late 1980s, ABU developed the “Syncro” drag for Ambassadeurs,
which allows the angler to adjust drag pressure by moving the crank backwards or
forwards when line is paid out. According to Svensson, it’s a wonderful feature,
and he often uses Syncro reels when he engages in his favourite pastime –trolling for salmon. The Syncro drag
was applied to a whole range of ABU reels, but never caught on.

Svensson
has been around this business for a while. What, in his view, are the most
important changes in casting reels since he joined ABU in 1984?

“The feel, the smoothness of the mechanisms. As far as
Ambassadeurs are concerned, it’s simply the gears. By the early 1990s, ABU had
fallen behind. We took the gears from our main competitors and put them into our
reels and were shocked by the difference. We invested heavily, and by the
mid-1990s, our gears were competitive again. Generally speaking, drag washers
and drags have improved a lot over the years. But you have to see reel
development in the context of tackle evolution more generally. For example, rods
are lighter and more sensitive today so reels must follow suit. Lines are much
stronger now so small reels have to be much stronger and more durable than they
were before.”

The future,
according to Svensson, will bring more of the same: reels that are stronger,
lighter, and also faster. He shows me the new Ambassadeur Revo MGX, a
low-profile reel, with a magnesium frame, that weighs 154 grams and has a 7.9:1
gear ratio. Strictly for the American and Japanese markets as yet, but due to be
introduced in Europe next year.

What about
new materials?

“Titanium is overrated. It has good corrosion properties but
is a substitute for steel, not aluminium. And despite the hype, reels made
mostly from titanium are heavier, not lighter, than aluminium reels.”

Magnesium
and carbon fibre hold much more promise according to Svensson.

And while
nanotechnology has been around for some time now – for example in Orvis rods and
(to a very modest extent) in some of the new ABU fixed-spool reels – Svensson
believes the balance between cost and performance is not yet right for use in
conventional reels. But its time will come.

And digital
control? Will we see computer chips inside ABU reels?

“It’s not in our plans. We did some experiments with the
concept in the 1980s but nothing came of it. And now, I suppose, it’s a case of
‘been there, tried doing that’.”

So what’s
ABU’s greatest asset?

“ABU’s biggest advantage is our service policy and service
performance, with quick access to spare parts. Another big advantage is our
reputation. Anglers still possess a fundamental belief in the ABU brand, and
this allows us to be bold, to take chances that most others don’t feel they can
afford.”

ABU’s
weaknesses?

“Right now, there are none. But after I became head of
Product Development in 2000, I spent the next four years putting out fires.
Tolerances that needed to be lowered, lots of small details that needed to be
fixed.”

And if
Svensson had to pick an “im-Pure-Fishing reel” for his salmon trolling?

“It would be a .......... Of course
we use our competitors’ reels all the time, it’s part of the job.”

These would
appear to be tough times for the Ambassadeur and other Pure Fishing baitcasters.
About half as many reels are sold world-wide these days as were sold in the
mid-1980s. To this woeful fact, we can add the avalanche of cheap reels from
South-East Asia and the ever-increasing popularity of fixed-spool reels. There’s
a slight pause here as we ponder these developments, the way two monks might
contemplate the signs and symbols of some strange, incomprehensible religion.
But things are not too bleak. Says Svensson:

If
you are a person that has significantly had an effect on
design/development/testing/collecting of ABU equipment over the years please contact me
wayne@realsreels.com
if you wish your contribution documented for posterity and the immediate
interest of the ABU fans worldwide!